A Look At Where Conservative MP Scott Reid Stands

Scott Reid a Conservative Party of Canada MP representing the Ontario riding of Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, has made quite a spectacle of himself of late with his with his aggressive, non-parliamentarian and intentionally insulting verbal attack on Marc Mayrand, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada. In my opinion Scott Reid’s comments amounted to verbal abuse aimed at intimidating and demeaning an invited guest to a parliamentary committee, instead of fact-finding and an honest seeking of reasons for the actions taken, or the finding of a solution the problem that was facing the committee. The verbal onslaught was brought on because Scott Reid thought that Marc Mayrand acted in a non required overly aggressive way by writing a letter to the Speaker of the House advising him that James Bezan, MP for Selkirk-Interlake, Manitoba’s was found to be in non-compliance with the amount he was allowed to spend on his previous election campaign and that one of the required remedies to the situation under the laws of Canada was for James Bezan to be stripped of his parliamentary privileges, such being allowed to sit in the House and his being able to vote; in other words the course of path action that James Bezan chose to take in resolving this matter, (refusing to hand over requested documentation and refusing to fix his tax return to properly indicate the proper figures as did Shelly Glover)has forced Elections Canada to find him in non-compliance and inform the house of his guilt.

I now know where Scott Reid stands when it comes to being tough on crime; I think that Scott Reid stands on the opposite side of it. We can deduce this simply by what we see and hear and what he has written, in his distant past and his not so distant past, his yesterday in particular: His views on legalizing marijuana and his views on when a guilty politician should be punished for election fraud and if at all. Let us start with the facts taken from The Frontenac News, a newspaper in his electoral riding about where Scott Reid position is when it comes to legalizing marijuana and what he has said and done to promote his views:

In 2001, as a member of the Canadian Alliance, Reid wrote an essay comparing current marijuana laws to prohibition. “The distinction between legal and illegal substances is clearly arbitrary, and would seem to be based on nothing more substantial than the fact that some drugs have a long history in our culture and therefore are more socially acceptable than others,” Reid wrote.

Scott Reid spoke to grade 10 students at Granite Ridge Education Centre on Sept. 17. The students in favor of changing the laws were reportedly asked to sit in one section of the room, while those opposed were asked to sit in another. While the majority of students were strongly opposed, Reid sat with the pro-legalization crowd.

Scott Reid told a crowd of people that he views drug policies in North America as illogical and inconsistent. Scott Reid told the same crowd, “I’ve never smoked marijuana, or cigarettes, but I favour legalization.”

Scott Reid told the same crowd, “I’ve never smoked marijuana, or cigarettes, but I favour legalization.”

Scott Reid told the same crowd, “I’ve never smoked marijuana, or cigarettes, but I favour legalization.” Scott Reid downplayed the idea that marijuana is dangerous by saying, “The most significant gateway drug is cigarettes, and the drug that does the most damage is alcohol, and they are both legal, and should be in my view.” Reid admitted his stance differs from the Conservative Party, which has toughened penalties for pot possession. “I was the only one in my party who voted against that legislation,” he said.

We also now know where Scott Reid stands when it comes to politicians being accountable for their actions when they break the law and what type of person should be allowed to make the laws of this country. We can say with certainty that he feels that politicians are above the law, or should not be dealt with as severely as the rest of the ordinary citizen when they break the law. Scott Reid’s tirade directed at Marc Mayrand amounted to him defending the right of politicians to:

Defraud the government and the people of Canada by submitting false tax reports of campaign spending in one election.

Refuse to cooperate with Elections Canada, whose duty it is to ensure that elections are run fairly all candidates stick to the letter of the law, by refusing to give to Elections Canada requested documentation of that spending done in their campaign allowing Elections Canada to do their job, get the matter cleared up so that a non-criminal settlement can be reached and handled as an honest mistake without the need for the guilty parliamentarian to lose his or her privileges as an elected MP in the House of Commons and on Committees.

Choose to withhold the documentation requested in hopes of somehow delaying being found guilty until he or she is elected again in the next election having done everything right at which point all previously guilty findings should be rendered wiped out.

Scott Reid could never be accused of not doing what his constituents want him to do, because he is following his own personal agenda and I commend him for this. I also give him the thumbs up for what he does with the $20,000 increase that federal politicians gave themselves, while suspending pay raises for most Canadians for over 10 years now and the reasons he states publicly that he does what he does.

Reid has held six “constituency referendums” in which he asked his constituents how to vote on an important issue: This includes votes on Anti-Terrorism Act (2001), the Species at Risk Act (2002), the Civil Marriage Act (2005) and a parliamentary motion on re-opening the abortion debate (2012). He has then voted as instructed by constituents. On two of these occasions, this caused him to vote against his party.

Each year, Reid donates to charity the proceeds of the $20,000 pay raise that MPs voted themselves in 2001. Each year the money is used to purchase defibrillators for use in hockey rinks, seniors’ centres, and local police forces in his riding. Reid explained his decision to make the donations by saying, “MPs were making $109,000 at the time. If a single guy living in a small town can’t get by on $109,000, he’s not trying too hard.”

Scott Reid describes himself as, more libertarian than conservative, that holds a combination of civil libertarian and socially conservative views.

I have given you a small look at Scott Reid with the help of Wikipedia, CBC News and the Frontenac News. I can see why the people in his riding keep voting him into office, but as a Canadian outside of his riding I think that his stand on crime and legalizing drugs that are now criminal very wrong and very scary. I think that politicians and anybody else that would push to make it easier for our children to get drugs legally like marijuana, while professing never to have even tried the drug and who know of it dangers and the suffering that they can cause are the most dangerous politicians of all and I have to ask, “What is up Canada?